Over time, everyday activities like sitting at a desk, staring at a computer, hunching over a cell phone or even holding a bag consistently on one side can cause stagnancy, stiffness and fatigue in the body. As habits build, poor posture can easily become second nature, causing back and neck pain and even damaging spinal structures.
However, the main factors that affect posture are totally within our control, and aren’t difficult to change with consistent awareness. If you’re sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, the following tips will help support you in maintaining a better posture.
1. Mini Cotton-Filled Cylindrical Bolster
To support the lumbar spine at your desk or at home, place the mini-cylindrical bolster just behind the lower back. Giving yourself this support means that sitting up taller will feel easier on your spine, helping build core strength to support good posture.
2. Linen Hot and Cold Therapy Pillow
Slouching over a keyboard for hours is tough on the shoulders. The more tension is held in the neck and shoulders, the more challenging it is to get rid of. Placing the Hot and Cold Therapy Pillow across the back of your shoulders will provide a welcome release for muscle tension -- alternate between hot and cold for optimal release!
3. Natural Rubber Massage Peanut
Small enough to carry around with you, this massage peanut is the perfect size and shape to massage muscles prone to tension along either side of the spine. As its name suggests, this massage ball is peanut shaped and designed to cradle the spine to relieve tension in the surrounding muscles with medium to firm pressure. Use by leaning into a wall or an office chair to provide relief where you need it most!
4. Joy-a-Toes
Good posture starts with the feet! Correct distribution of weight in our feet gives the body optimal postural alignment, creating a great foundation that helps the feet engage and recover. Wearing Joy-a-Toes for 15-20 minutes per day (increasing over time) helps realign the bones and soft tissue, stimulates circulation and increases flexibility and strength in the feet. It is important to work from the ground up to ensure posture is strong and maintainable.
I challenge you to incorporate the above into your daily practices as well as taking just a few minutes every hour to walk around, stretch out and get the blood flowing — this will do wonders for posture, as well as help relieve stiffness, soreness and tension in the body. In a world that can be so demanding, it is important that we take time for ourselves, care for our body and be mindful of what it is asking of us.
